Cunigham Surname

6,360,413th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 9 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
Nicaragua
Highest density in:
Belize

Cunigham Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Cunningham,' a district in North Ayrshire, containing a large number of parishes.

1502. Buried — Thomas Conningham: St. Michael, Cornhill.

1711. Married — Robert Hammond and Elizabeth Cunningham: ibid.

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Cunigham Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Nicaragua31:2,007,0306,490
United States31:120,819,6441,331,040
Belize11:355,4743,977
Brazil11:214,074,3321,693,628
Honduras11:8,816,4429,272
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland181:246,10410,726
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England41:6,093,842135,151
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States511:984,68058,342

Cunigham Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Cunningham,' a district in North Ayrshire, containing a large number of parishes.

1502. Buried — Thomas Conningham: St. Michael, Cornhill.

1711. Married — Robert Hammond and Elizabeth Cunningham: ibid.

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

The northern district of Ayrshire, containing many parishes, whence the old earls of Glencairn. Conyngham and Cunynghame are varieties of this name.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

CUNNGHAME: Local: From the district of Cunninghame in Ayrshire. Malcolm Canmore being hotly pursued by Macbeth took refuge in a barn, where a countryman called Malcolm the son of Friskin, concealed him by forking hay or straw over him; on the accession of Malcolm Can-more to the throne he granted to his deliverer the Thanedom of Cunninghame, and for his arms, argent a shake fork sable, with the motto, "Over fork over."

The Origin and Signification of Scottish Surnames (1862) by Clifford Stanley Sims (1839-1896)

Local. A district in Ayrshire, Scotland. The name signifies the dwelling of the chief or king, from the Saxon, cyning, Dutch, koning, a leader or chief, and ham, a house or town.

An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names (1857) by William Arthur

Cunigham Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Cunigham Come From? nationality or country of origin

The last name Cunigham is held by more people in Nicaragua than any other country or territory. It may occur as a variant:. Click here to see other possible spellings of Cunigham.

How Common Is The Last Name Cunigham? popularity and diffusion

The surname Cunigham is the 6,360,413th most common surname world-wide, borne by around 1 in 809,727,324 people. The surname is predominantly found in The Americas, where 100 percent of Cunigham reside; 56 percent reside in Central America and 44 percent reside in Hispano-Central America.

Cunigham is most commonly occurring in Nicaragua, where it is borne by 3 people, or 1 in 2,007,030. In Nicaragua Cunigham is most numerous in: North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, where 67 percent reside and South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, where 33 percent reside. Other than Nicaragua this last name occurs in 4 countries. It is also found in The United States, where 33 percent reside and Belize, where 11 percent reside.

Cunigham Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The occurrence of Cunigham has changed through the years. In The United States the number of people bearing the Cunigham last name decreased 94 percent between 1880 and 2014.

Cunigham Last Name Statistics demography

The religious adherence of those carrying the last name is chiefly Catholic (72%) in Ireland.

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Cunigham
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis